A-VRPD: Automating Drone-Based Last-Mile Delivery Using Self-Driving Cars

Drone-based last-mile delivery is an emerging technology that uses drones loaded onto a truck to deliver parcels to customers. In this paper, the authors introduce a fully automated system for drone-based last-mile delivery through incorporation of autonomous vehicles (AVs). A novel problem called the autonomous vehicle routing problem with drones (A-VRPD) is defined. A-VRPD is to select AVs from a pool of available AVs based on crowd sourcing, assign selected AVs to customer groups, and schedule routes for selected AVs to optimize the total operational cost. They formulate A-VRPD as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and propose an optimization framework to solve the problem. A greedy algorithm is also developed to significantly improve the running time for large-scale delivery scenarios. Extensive simulations were conducted taking into account real-world operational costs for different types of AVs, traveled distances calculated considering the real-time traffic conditions using Google Map API, and varying load capacities of AVs. They evaluated the performance in comparison with two different state-of-the-art solutions: an algorithm designed to address the traditional vehicle routing problem with drones (VRP-D), which involves human-operated trucks working in tandem with drones to deliver parcels, and an algorithm for the two echelon vehicle routing problem (2E-VRP), wherein parcels are first transported to satellite locations and subsequently delivered from those satellites to the customers. The results indicate a substantial increase in profits for both the delivery company and vehicle owners compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms.

• Record URL:
  • http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2023.3266460
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/41297384
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Copyright © 2023, IEEE.
• Authors:
  • Imran, Navid Mohammad
  • Mishra, Sabyasachee
  • Won, Myounggyu
• Publication Date: 2023-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 9599-9612
• Serial:
  • IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
  • Volume: 24
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • ISSN: 1524-9050
  • Serial URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6979

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Algorithms; Autonomous vehicles; Delivery service; Drones; First mile and last mile; Traveling salesman problem
• Identifier Terms: Vehicle Routing Problem
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01903696
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 28 2023 1:28PM